


Kiss the Cook

by littlesparrow33



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Benny Lafitte Deserves to be Happy, Dancing, Dean Winchester Deserves to be Happy, Flirting, Gifts, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26095963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesparrow33/pseuds/littlesparrow33
Summary: Is there a weirder weirdo than someone who dances in the kitchen? Maybe not, but it doesn't take much for Dean to learn to appreciate it.A divergence from S08E19 "Taxi Driver"
Relationships: Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester
Comments: 11
Kudos: 53





	Kiss the Cook

**Author's Note:**

> I'll repeat: this year sucks.
> 
> I posted a sad ficlet, now I'm going to post a happy cute one. Because, _balance_.
> 
> The song playing is Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From" (1976): https://youtu.be/7_3knRkoBTs. I'd highly recommend listening to this for reasons of joy (and, yes, I've been listening to The Umbrella Academy 2 playlist since I finished watching the series--may wind up writing about them in the future; so many feels!).

Dean yawned as he wandered toward the kitchen. It was too early, but he couldn’t sleep and since he could hear music coming down the hall, Dean hoped someone was making breakfast. He’d thought it was Sam at first, but as he got closer the tunes became clearer and it didn’t sound like anything his brother would listen to. That meant Benny was there.

A small smile grew as Dean neared the door. Benny was getting more comfortable each day that he stayed at the bunker. It had been tense for a while, but Dean made it clear that the Southern man had a home here and it was starting to take. Benny had even unpacked his things; Dean knew, he’d checked the room while the vampire was out.

_…Love is good, love can be strong, we gotta get right back to where we started from…_

Dean finally turned into the kitchen to find Benny at the sink, washing dishes, and bouncing in place to the music. The _old_ music that Dean would never tune in for, normally.

“Dude, _what_ have you found to listen to?” he called over to the vampire.

Benny turned, and Dean was surprised how relaxed the Southern man looked: chin bobbing in time, easy grin, and sleeves rolled up loosely as he brushed his hands with a towel. “Doin’ a bit of catch-up, chief. Station plays music from the sixties, seventies, and eighties; real music—not like a lot of the noise y’all listen to, these days.”

The hunter rolled his eyes at the mocking but was pleased enough that Benny wasn’t compelled to change the station for him. The kitchen was becoming Benny’s zone in the bunker more and more every day and it hit a satisfied spot in Dean every time he saw it.

“Whatever, old timer. Why don’t you try— _hey!_ ”

Quick as a flash, Benny nabbed Dean’s hand and pulled forward until Dean had to balance himself on the vampire’s arm.

“C’mon!” he protested again, but was just thrown around when Benny quickly switched sides and had them spinning across the linoleum. “Seriously?”

“Why not?” came the response. Benny’s mouth was quirked up as he led Dean around the room in a series of steps and turns. It took a moment to smooth out, but Dean’s feet could keep up well enough. Not that he knew the steps, but he was used to following Benny’s cues while they fought, and this wasn’t much different. As soon as Dean got over his startlement and followed Benny’s rhythm, he barked out a laugh.

“You’re such a weirdo. Who dances in the kitchen?”

“Only the good ones.” Benny gave an exaggerated wink and somehow tricked Dean into a spin while he was distracted. “Lighten up, chief.”

Dean could only let out another laugh as they fell into something more like a fast waltz. Benny was humming in time with the beat and his good mood was infectious. Dean had never been one for this kind of dancing and was surprised at how much _fun_ he was having. He could feel it when his steps started to really match the music, and he thought Benny grinned at the same time.

_…Oh, it’s all right, yeah, it’s comin’ along, we gotta get right back to where we started from…_

Benny raised his hand and sent Dean out into a spin again, giving the hunter’s hand a squeeze as Dean returned. Dean was outright grinning now, and he turned to Benny to say something when he noticed how close he was to the other man’s face. Benny’s blue eyes were on him; had Dean known they were blue, before? And had Benny trimmed his beard recently? Dean could have sworn that the shape was different…

They were still moving, but much slower now, and Dean realized he was staring when the vampire quirked an eye at him. He opened his mouth to ask something, when they heard it.

“Hey, Dean!” Sam’s voice came down the hallway. “You down there? Think there’s something in Wichita that we need to check out…”

Dean and Benny parted, but there was a sense of movement left in the air that had Dean feeling off as he stepped away. Benny didn’t seem affected, only giving Dean a short nod and a smile.

“Go on, now. Back to work, slacker,” he teased. Turning back to the sink, the vampire started whistling along to the next song that was starting up and Dean’s feet matched it as he walked out toward Sam’s voice.

That beat stayed with him for a while longer and Dean was surprised how energized it kept him for the rest of the morning.

~ ~ ~

In his room, Dean stood at the end of the bed, frown etched into his face and arms crossed. He was staring at the plastic bag he’d tossed onto the mattress that he’d brought home from the supermarket. It had been an impulse buy and now he couldn’t help but second-guess it.

On first look, he hadn’t given it any real thought, just figured “that’s perfect” and tossed it in the cart. Now that it was time to give it to the intended recipient, the next-level implications got more complicated.

It was just an apron. Simple, black, large—perfect for their vampire chef-in-residence. Like Dean had thought before, the kitchen was really Benny’s area now and he might as well have the tools that applied there. But the text was another story.

“KISS THE COOK” read the bright white letters on the front. Common enough that Dean didn’t immediately think of what that might be saying. But Benny hadn’t been in the real world since the sixties. And he was a dude, in a bunker, with other dudes. It wasn’t like a spouse giving a gag gift, if it came from a rough, worn-down hunter like Dean. Benny might not appreciate anything like that from _him_.

Dean supposed that it shouldn’t matter—it was just an apron, for chrissake. It’d be useful, and it’s not like there was _a lot_ of selection at the store; he’d just grabbed the first thing he saw, basically. Except… When he thought about Benny wearing it, Dean remembered them dancing together in the kitchen. He thought about the vampire wearing it at the stove or the counter, too—slicing and chopping away—but his first thought was of Benny’s strong arms leading him around the floor. Dean remembered laughing as they spun and how easy it all was.

_Fuck it_ , Dean thought. He grabbed the bag and walked into the hallway. Quickly, he went to Benny’s door and hung the bag on the handle before about-facing and returning to his room for the night.

If Benny didn’t like it, he probably wouldn’t even wear it. And if he did…he _would_.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Dean was slow about getting ready for the day. He indulged in an extra-long shower and shaved carefully. Even so, he didn’t feel ready as he finally gave in to his curiosity and went to the kitchen.

Dean nearly tripped as he walked in, seeing Benny in the apron. But he faltered more when he noticed that the apron was facing inside out. There was only a faint trace of lettering shown from the inside. On that realization, Dean quickly turned to the fridge and went to open it.

A hand pressed over the refrigerator door, stopping him. “Dean.”

The hunter forced a smile. “Gonna let me get to the water, man?” Because everything was _fine_. And whatever the vampire’s hearing or senses were telling him, Dean was perfectly normal.

“In just a minute, chief,” Benny drawled. “First, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong; everything’s fine,” Dean countered, not quite meeting those blue eyes staring at him. “C’mon…”

Benny didn’t respond. After a moment, he rocked back and patted his hands down his front. “I wanted to thank you for the gift, Dean.”

“It was nothing. You’re cooking all the time in here; figured you needed it.” Dean smiled tightly as he moved to pull out a water bottle. He took a swig and let his eyes drift around the room before nodding at Benny. “I’ll see you around, later, yeah?”

“Dean,” Benny repeated, and something in his voice had Dean pause in his tracks. He finally met Benny’s gaze, the Southern man looking…different than usual. “I _really_ like it.”

“Then why—” Dean snapped his jaw shut before anything else could come out.

“…Why?”

The hunter looked away, but knew for a fact that Benny could hear his unsteady heartbeat and see the tips of his ears turning red. He also knew that Benny wouldn’t let this go. Dean cleared his throat, awkwardly. “Y’know, it’s…supposed to go the other way around.”

The vampire stepped closer, and Dean could watch the other man’s boots as he kept his eyes down. “I figured that,” Benny murmured. Dean didn’t follow up with the question lingering there, but Benny responded anyway, “You were being a layabout, and Sam was up here earlier.”

That confused Dean into looking up. “So?”

“I’ve been tryin’ to butter up that boy with cookin’, but I didn’t want him thinkin’ he could get sweet on me,” came the deadpan reply.

Dean blinked. Then burst out laughing.

Dean saw Benny’s grin but was too busy chuckling to acknowledge him. It was a ridiculous image, the two of them, with their enmity and distrust. Sam had been resistant for _weeks_ at the idea of having Benny at the bunker, and the hatchet between the two wasn’t buried so deep that Dean could even imagine them as friends, never mind anything else.

He was starting to wind down and Benny nodded approvingly. “That’s better,” he drawled, fondly.

“Shut up,” Dean retorted, without any heat. “You’re ridiculous.” He was somehow closer to Benny now, and without thinking about it, his hand moved to tug the edge of the apron, approvingly.

There was a pause, then Benny murmured, “Your brother’s out in the library, now.”

Dean hummed briefly, in acknowledgment. “Guess you’re safe from Sam, then.”

“That I am.”

Dean wasn’t really focusing much until Benny moved to untie the apron strings. A quick tug and then the apron hung loose, and the fabric ran across his fingertips as Benny lifted it off. The hunter took a half-step back as Benny flipped it the right way and settled it back over his broad shoulders. The bright, white letters blared at him, and Dean could only stare at the words until Benny made a soft noise.

Slowly dragging his eyes away from the apron covering that wide chest and up to meet Benny’s gaze, Dean’s breath caught. Those blue eyes were intent on him, and Dean held still under that look.

“Better, cher?” came Benny’s husky voice.

“Better,” Dean repeated, dumbly.

Benny’s lips curled. “You got somethin’ for me, then?”

“I dunno, did you cook something for me?” Dean wasn’t tracking his own words very well, but he felt warm as Benny chuckled in response.

“Always, cher.”

There was an electric pause before the static in Dean’s head sharpened into decision. “Aw, fuck it,” he muttered. And, with that, he leaned in the last few inches and pressed his lips to Benny’s.

It felt like all the hair on Dean’s body frizzled with tension right up until he felt Benny lean in and kiss him back. Then everything was released, and he couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him. To his credit, Benny didn’t laugh, but only took advantage of the brief parting to get ahold of Dean’s upper lip between his own. At this point, Dean wasn’t going to hold himself responsible for any other sounds while he was busy getting used to feeling Benny’s lips, and the edge of that beard catching lightly against him.

Dean felt he was adapting to the change pretty well, all things considered, when he had an uneasy thought and pulled back. Benny was staring at him, mouth parted, and the Southern man’s hands had somehow made their way to Dean’s waist and shoulder.

“All right, Dean?” the vampire breathed out, concern in his voice.

“You live here,” Dean’s words tumbled out. “No matter what, OK? This is home, even if—”

“I know.” Benny pulled him in for a reassuring kiss. “I know, cher. This isn’t about that; I _want_ this.”

Dean relaxed, leaning into Benny again. “Good,” he murmured, forehead pressed against Benny’s. “Didn’t wanna, y’know… You don’t _have_ to do anything here. Just stay. As long as you want.”

Benny nudged him, gently. “So long as you want me around, cher, I plan to stay.”

The younger man smiled. _“Good,”_ he repeated. “Don’t wanna mess this up.”

“Neither do I,” Benny admitted back. “Will probably make some mistakes along the way, but I want this, so long as you’re up for it, too?”

Dean pressed another kiss on Benny’s lips. “Yes, _fuck_ yes.”

Benny gave an interested hum, making Dean chuckle. But the vampire didn’t move to rush things along, yet. Instead he held out a hand and Dean realized that there had been soft jazz playing in the background this whole time. He’d been too distracted to notice, but Benny looked eager.

Smiling, Dean took Benny’s hand and let him lead their feet into that waltz step from last time. His lips were still plump from their kissing and curved into a happy smile. Dean was beaming back, unfettered and bright as they turned around the kitchen, in a dance just for them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE END

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


End file.
